Qatar’s airport plans launch of new self-service technology

Self-printed luggage tags, automated baggage drop and e-gate facilities for visitors are among the new services planned for Hamad International Airport (HIA) as it struggles to operate beyond its capacity.

This week, airport officials said they are testing out “smart” technology that would make everything from check-in to boarding entirely self-service.

However, it is unclear how the new features would help with passenger complaints about long waiting times at immigration and at passport control in transit.

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@RoryWSJ / Twitter @RoryWSJ / Twitter

According to HIA’s chief operating officer Badr Al Meer, the facility has already exceeded its planned capacity, with more than 30 million passengers recorded as passing through in 2015.

Plans to expand the airport include doubling the size of the main terminal to more than 1 million square meters, nearly doubling the number of contact gates to 61 and bringing the number of remote gates to 14, airport officials said in September 2014.

While D gates are already in operation, the full extension is not planned to be finished until 2020.

New systems

This week, Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed Al Sulaiti were shown some of the new technology that is being tested, HIA said.

In its statement, the airport said these new systems will be publicly launched “soon,” but has not given a more specific timeline for their official roll-out.

Self-service machines at boarding gates have also been trialed, the airport said, although it did not give any further details of how this system would work or when it would be fully deployed.

“These technological advancements … will also allow the airport to be better connected to its passengers and provide need based assistance. Several aspects of the program have already been implemented and the remaining is being trialled with phased completion planned in the near future,” HIA’s COO Al Meer said in a statement.

Automated systems are often used as cost-cutting measures in airports, however an official at Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) previously said there will be no budget cuts at HIA.

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